Policemen Zhan Pengfei and Xie Rongchao of Hubei Province discovered an unusual trail of roses as they patrolled the highway from Guangzhou to Daqing on the morning of August 22, as the story goes on Chinese websites. They soon realized that the roses were scattered in a pattern, one flower per kilometer.

Zhan and Xie followed the trail of roses out of concern that they may have fallen off a flower truck, according to Wuhan Evening News, whose story has been spread widely. Twenty-three kilometers later, they caught up with a sedan, from which the roses were being deliberately thrown.

The sedan belonged to Wang, a 26-year-old man from Changsha City, Hunan Province, who was on his way to Kaifeng City, Henan Province to propose to his girlfriend. Because the distance between the two cities is roughly 1000 kilometers, Wang purchased 999 flowers so that he could scatter one per kilometer during his journey, and present his girlfriend with the last rose. Wang did it in an apparent attempt to show that the love between them is unchanging and everlasting.

The police said that Wang’s actions were hazardous because it could cause other drivers to stop en route and try to pick up the flowers. Police gave him a warning, but also wished him success in his romantic gesture.

Despite the cries of Chinese netizens, the reports never explained whether his marriage proposal was successful.